James Lemieux enters his fifth season as the throws coach for
both the men’s and women’s track & field programs.
He is also the head coach of the women's indoor and outdoor track
and field team.

In his first four years at Worcester State, Coach Lemieux's
group has become one of the most competative in the MASCAC and
Division III New England. In each of the last two seasons alone, 14
individuals have competed in various throwing events at both the
Division III New England and ECAC Division III Championships.

Coach Lemieux has helped a pair of female throwers break the
schools indoor and outdoor shot put records while Alyssa Jasper has
represented the Lancers in three consecutive NCAA Division III
Outdoor Championships in the javelin.

Coming off a season where she shattered an eight-year school
mark in the javelin, she captured her second consecutive title at
the Division III New England Championships in the 2014 outdoor
season while also resetting a six-year record with a crown in the
heptathlon. Jasper also claimed All-American honors with eighth
place in the heptathlon at the outdoor national meet.

On the men’s side, Coach Lemieux helped multi-event
specialist Jason Sliwoski break the previous school records in the
indoor heptathlon and the decathlon. In back to back campaigns,
Sliwoski had a pair of top-30 point totals in the NCAA Division III
decathlon and he won the shot put and discus en route to second at
the Division III New England Championships - just 226 points off
first place. Sliwoski has also earned All-ECAC accolades twice in
the decathlon, taking home second in 2012 with victories in two of
the three throwing events.

Prior to his arrival at Worcester State, Coach Lemieux spent
eight seasons building up his reputation as one of the best throws
coaches in Massachusetts at Lowell High as each one of his athletes
has broken a relay record or an individual mark.

Individually, Coach Lemieux has coached back-to-back Division I
champions in the girls discus (Katie Lanoune in 2007 and Julia
Funaro in 2008) while Funaro was a runner-up at the
All-State’s meet in 2008. He also helped guide All-State
Division I champion Ryan Davila to finish sixth overall at the Nike
Indoor Nationals for All-American status. During the season, Davila
would caulk up a mark of 61-1.5 for the best mark in Massachusetts
in 2010 as it was also the fifth best mark in state history. Davila
was also a part of the shot put relay that broke the meet record at
the McIntyre Elite Relays.

Coach Lemieux’s focus is on developing dynamic and
explosive strength while working with Olympic lifts and
plyo’s. He believes that the more agile and athletic you are,
the farther you will throw.

Coach Lemieux graduated from UMass Lowell in 2002. Lemieux
competed in the shot put, weight throw, hammer and discus as he was
selected as a captain of the indoor and outdoor teams as a senior.
His toss in the discus is still the fifth-best throw put up in
program history.

Coach Lemieux continues to compete as a member of the Greater
Boston Track Club.

Coach Lemieux recently attained his USATF Level 3 and IAAF Level
5 certifications for throwing events - the highest level of
certification offered by both the US and International governing
bodies.